Hi and welcome to Episode 129 of the Photography Explained podcast.
I’m your host Rick, and in each episode I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 10 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. What I tell you is based on my lifetime of photographic experience. And not Google. Definitely no Google in this episode.
Here is the answery bit
My 11 top tips to save you time editing your photos are these
- Choose one software program and stick with it
- Learn how to use the software properly
- Customise the software to suit you
- Get to know presets
- Save time with keyboard shortcuts
- Copy and paste – yes copy and paste!
- Get your own workflow
- Practise, practise, practise
- Know what you want out of a photo
- Get it right in camera
- Do not edit every photo
This is going to be short, punchy episode which will give you lots of things to think about.
You can listen to the episode here
Or keep on reading. Or do both. Entirely up to you!
1 Choose one software programme and stick with it
Yep, one photo editing software package. Don’t do what I did, buy everything out there and be not very good with any of them. In fact, I spread myself so thinly across so many different things I was rubbish with all of them.
2 Learn how to use the software properly
If you have one thing to edit photos with you are in a good place. You have one software package, whatever it is, so you can properly learn how to use that one thing. I am not saying don’t get other software, not at all, but learn how to use what you have before getting anything else, and if you don’t need to get anything else, well that has to be a good thing right?
3 Customise the software to suit you
Spend time learning how to use the software, and when you are using it think about the things that you use all the time and the things that you do not use.
I have managed to hide things that I do not use so what I see is what I use. I don’t want things cluttering up my workspace that I never use. And neither should you.
4 Get to know presets
Presets are brilliant. I am not talking here about the ones that you buy – I don’t have any of them. I am talking about the ones that allow you to apply things on import, export, and other things in between.
All the presets I use are my own, created by me to help me do things quicker. They include automation to do things that I do to every photo, giving me fewer things to do, and presets to get me started editing my photos.
5 Save time with keyboard shortcuts
I use keyboard shortcuts all the time. Don’t try to remember them all, just the ones that will save you time and help you to do things more quickly and easily. These are so important to me, so useful and so ingrained in my workflow. So much so that I will tell you what they are in the next episode.
6 Copy and paste
Control C and Control V. Universal shortcuts that you can use when editing photos. Find out what you can copy and paste with your software – it’s not just for text!
7 Get your own workflow
A workflow is simply a series of steps to get something done. Like editing a photo.
Think about your workflow. Get this sorted and not only will you work more efficiently, but more importantly if you process your photos in a consistent way you will get your own look too.
I have a very well-defined workflow, and I edit all my photos in the same sequence with very similar settings. So much so that I apply some processing when I import images.
8 Practise, practise, practise
Practice makes perfect. Now I am not aiming for perfection, but I am aiming to be the best that I can, to create the best photos that I can. And practising, with my software of choice, has got me to where I am now.
This is why it is so important that you learn properly how to use your software of choice, and then keep on practising with it.
9 Know what you want out of a photo
This might sound a bit odd, but what is the end point of your processing of an image? For a commercial real estate photo, each photo has to be technically correct and show a space or a building in a positive way, showing it at its best, whilst being accurate, realistic and correct. I know what my end point is before I start editing photos of buildings for clients.
And for an architectural shoot, I want a bit more creativity, a bit more refinement, whilst still being faithful to the subject.
So think about this when you take a photo. Start with the end in mind.
10 Get it right in camera
If I can get a photo of a building perfectly level in camera, and also get the verticals bang on, guess what? I don’t have to work on them when editing. So why would you not do that?
The same goes for the exposure – get the exposure bang on and you have less editing work to do.
Getting everything right in camera is such an important thing to do.
11 Do not edit every photo
I touched on this in the last episode. Well, I more than touched on it. This is what I said.
“You do not have to edit every photo. You never have to edit every photo dare I say?”
And I mean it. Go back to that episode, titled, rather strangely, “How Do You Actually Get Started With This Photo Editing Malarky Thing?”.
But do not edit every photo. Choose a photo and edit it. You might be done then. For a sunrise shoot, I am only after one photo.
Think about how much time this could save you.
The talky bit
I have not mentioned any photo software editing package here for a reason. These things apply to whatever you use, and however you work. I wish someone had told me this lot when I started out in digital photography back in 2005. Yes, 2005.
Photo editing is important, but it is a part of the process of photography, which is after all drawing with light.
I edit photos to enhance what is there and remove things that I do not want in a photo. And that is it. I do not want to spend a long time editing photos. I do not want to spend all my time in front of my computer.
No, I want to be out exploring, finding things, creating new photos, and creating memories. That is what photography is to me, creating new photos.
And I want to spend my time concentrating on what I am taking a photo of. That is the important bit.
And of course, talking and writing about it.
What do I do?
I am in the fortunate position where I have gone through the process of making loads of mistakes, doing too much, trying every bit of software, over editing photos – all of that bad stuff, which has taken me to where I am now.
I spend the time I need to edit photos and move on. That’s it.
Next episode
Ask me a question.
If you have a photography question you would like me to answer in plain English in less than 10 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details, just head over to https://photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start.
This is a great place to go to find out more about me and my podcast, and also how you can help me.
I would love to hear from, even if you just want to say hi.
This episode was powered by, wait for it, Alta Rica coffee and a Biscoff biscuit. The cheese sandwich and crisps were some time ago. No, a nice afternoon drink and snack whilst I am sat here in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium.
OK – I’m done
I’ve been Rick McEvoy, thanks again very much for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here), and for giving me 10 (ish) minutes of your valuable time. I really hope that you have enjoyed this episode, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yes, I have changed the script to make it snappier which I hope has worked for you.
Take care, stay safe
Cheers from me Rick”
OK – that was the podcast episode.
Want to know more?
Head over to the Start page on the Photography Explained Podcast website to find out more.
And here is the list of episodes published to date – you can listen to any episode straight from this page which is nice.
Let me know if there is a photography thing that you want me to explain and I will add it to my list. Just head over to the This is my list of things to explain page of this website to see what is on there already.
Let me send you stuff
I send out a weekly email to my subscribers. It is my take on one photography thing, plus what I have been writing and talking about. Just fill in the box and you can get my weekly photographic musings straight to your inbox. Which is nice.
And finally a little bit about me
Finally, yes this paragraph is all about me – check out my Rick McEvoy Photography website to find out more about me and my architectural, construction, real estate and travel photography work. I also write about general photography stuff, all in plain English without the irrelevant detail.
Thank you
Thanks for listening to my podcast (if you did) and reading this blog post (which I assume you have done as you are reading this).
Cheers from me Rick
